According to statements from his representatives, Prince had been suffering from a serious case of the flu. Earlier this month Prince’s plane made an emergency landing due to medical reasons, but Prince was cleared the next day and even appeared at a concert assuring his fans that he was fine.

There is nothing like the loss of an icon and Prince’s legacy runs deep. Over the course of his 35 year career he sold more than 100 million records and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score for “Purple Rain” in 1985.

As the investigation into his exact cause of death develops the world mourns the loss of a little piece of history.